In Other Adaptations
The Heat-Ray is one of the most common features of virtually every adaptation of the story. Many adaptations adhere fairly well to the characteristics given in the novel, such as the radio adaptation, even reciting near verbatim descriptions of how the device operates.
The Heat-Ray is described in Jeff Wayne's Musical Version of The War of the Worlds and depicted on the album artwork painted by Michael Trim as well as the art "Panic in the Streets" by Geoff Taylor. The Heat-Ray emanates from a proboscis in the cupola rather than shooting from a box or case carried by the tripod.
The Great Illustrated Classics adaptation of The War of the Worlds portrays the Heat-Ray as a massive flamethrower.
In Edison's Conquest of Mars, as an answer to the Heat-Ray, Thomas Edison designs a disintegrator ray for use by human forces. This is the first appearance of such a device in science fiction.
In Sherlock Holmes's War of the Worlds, the Heat-Ray is described as being based on nuclear energy, with it being projected from a pink-hued, multifaceted focusing crystal.
In the spoof film Scary Movie 4, the main storyline is that of War of the Worlds. The Heat-Ray's effects are given a comical treatment; the intersection scene shows a lady push another into the path of the Heat-Ray to get her clothes. In one scene, the President of the United States, played by Leslie Nielsen, announces to the United Nations that America has managed to capture a Heat-Ray. Its effects have been reversed, comically destroying the clothes of everyone in the room, with the President barely aware.
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